Big changes are coming to grade school report cards in one Colorado school district. With a $70 million budget deficit looming, Jefferson County Public Schools officials have agreed to include advertisements for Colorado’s nonprofit education savings plan, CollegeInvest, underneath student grades. In return, the school system will receive $90,000 over three years.
Lorie Gillis, Chief Financial Officer for Jeffco Public Schools, told NBC 9 News that budget cuts mean the district has to be "creative" about the way it funds schools. "You can look and say, '$90,000 isn't that much, $30,000 a year isn't that much,' but we are at a point in time where it is that much because it matters," she said. "If it's $30,000 a year, that could be 60 more laptops in the classroom."